The former Mayor of Lancaster has raised nearly £16k for a new diabetes centre which he officially opened back in April.

The staggering donation was raised for Bay Hospitals Charity by Councillor Robert Redfern who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1980 and has attended the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) diabetes clinic since his diagnosis.

He raised £15,668 from a series of charity evenings during his time in office as Mayor of Lancaster in 2016/2017. The new centre was his chosen charity.

Coun Redfern said: “This centre will benefit people from all over the area.

“Beinginvolved with this project I feel overwhelming pride for all of those involved and what has been achieved.”

The diabetes centre at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FoundationTrust (UHMBT) was inspired by a patient story at a Board of Directors meeting in2014 and is dedicated to specialist outpatient services for people living with diabetes in North Lancashire. Consultant and nurse-led clinics opened in the centre in the first week of July.

Deborah Slater, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, who has led the project, said: “We cannot thank Coun Redfern enough for his support.

“He really has gone above and beyond to raise awareness of diabetes locally and to help get the centre off the ground.”

“Diabetes is such a multifaceted disease which requires multi-professional approach and what this centre means is that we can all work together in this centre to provide that care to truly improve the service that we deliver to our local population.

“Patient empowerment to self-manage their diabetes through education is an essential element of diabetes care. The IT and education facilities we have incorporated into the new diabetes centre will allow us to support the widening of local patient education provision.”